There's a great sort of ravenous Bird that feeds upon Carrion, as big very nigh as an Eagle, which they call a Turky Bustard, its Feathers are of a Duskish black, it has red Gills, resembling those of a Turky, whence it has its Name; it is nothing of the same sort of Bird with our English Turky Bustard, but is rather a Species of the Kites, for it will hover on the Wing something like them, and is carnivorous; the Fat thereof dissolved into an Oil, is recommended mightily against old Aches and Sciatica Pains.
I think there are no Jackdaws, nor any Magpys; they there prize a Magpye as much as we do their Red Bird.
The Pica Glandaria, or Jay, is much less than our English Jay, and of another colour, for it is all blue where ours is brown, the Wings marbled as curiously as ours are, it has both the same Cry, and sudden jetting Motion.
There are great Variety and Curiosity in the Wood-peckers, there's one as big as our Magpye, with blackish brown Feathers, and a large Scarlet Tuft on the top of the Head: There are four or five sorts of Wood-peckers more, variegated with Green, Yellow and Red Heads, others spotted black and white, most lovely to behold. There's a Tradition amongst them, that the Tongue of one of these Wood-peckers dryed will make the Teeth drop out if pick'd therewith, and cure the Tooth-ach (tho' I believe little of it, but look on it as ridiculous) yet I thought fit to hint as much that others may try; for sometimes such old Stories refer to some peculiar Virtues, tho' not to all that is said of them.
There be wild Turkies extream large; they talk of Turkies that have been kill'd, that have weigh'd betwixt 50 and 60 Pound weight; the largest that ever I saw, weigh'd something better than 38 Pound; they have very long Legs, and will run prodigiously fast. I remember not that ever I saw any of them on the Wing, except it were once: Their Feathers are of a blackish shining Colour, that in the Sun shine like a Dove's Neck, very specious.
Hens and Cocks are for the most part without Tails and Rumps; and as some have assured me our English Hens after some time being kept there have their Rumps Rot off; which I'm the apter to believe, being all their Hens are certainly of English breed. I'm sorry I made no Anatomical Observations thereof, and Remarks about the Use of the Rumps in Birds, which at present I take to be a couple of Glands, containing a sort of Juice for the Varnishing the Feathers; having observed all Birds have much recourse with their Bills to the Rumps when they dress their Plumes, whereby they scud thro' the Air more nimbly in their Flight.
Partridges there are much smaller than ours, and resort in Covies as ours do; their Flesh is very white, and much excels ours in my mind, Sed de gustibus non est disputandum.
Their Turtle-Doves are of a duskish blue colour, much less than our common Pidgeon, the whole Train is longer much than the Tails of our Pidgeons, the middle Feather being the longest. There's the strangest Story of a vast number of these Pidgeons that came in a Flock a few Years before I came thither; they say they came thro' New England, New York and Virginia, and were so prodigious in number as to darken the Sky for several Hours in the place over which they flew, and brake massie Bows where they light; and many like things which I have had asserted to me by many Eye-witnesses of Credit, that to me it was without doubt, the Relaters being very sober Persons, and all agreeing in a Story: nothing of the like ever happen'd since, nor did I ever see past Ten in a Flock together that I remember. I am not fond of such Stories, and had suppressed the relating of it, but that I have heard the same from very many.
The Thrush and Feldefire are much like ours, and are only seen in Winter there, accordingly as they are here.
Their Mocking Birds may be compared to our Singing Thrushes, being much of the same bigness; there are two sorts, the Gray and the Red, the gray has Feathers much of the colour of our gray Plovers with white in the Wings like a Magpye; this has the much softer Note, and will imitate, in its singing, the Notes of all Birds that it hears, and is accounted much the finest Singing Bird in the World. Dr. Moulin and I made in our Anatomy many Observations of Singing Birds to this effect: The Ears of Birds differ much from those of Men or Beasts, there's almost a direct passage from one Ear to the other of Birds, so that prick but the small Membrane call'd the Drum on either Ear, and Water poured in at one Ear will run out at the other: But this is not all, but what is much more remarkable, they have no Coclea, but instead thereof there's a small Cocleous or twisting Passage that opens into a large Cavity, that runs betwixt two Sculls, and passes all round the Head, the upper Scull is supported by many hundreds of small Thred-like Pillars or Fibers, which as we supposed had another use also, to break the Sound from making any confused Echo, and to make it one and distinct; this passage we observed betwixt the two Skulls was much larger in Singing Birds than in others that do not sing, so very remarkable that any Person that has been but show'd this may easily judge by the Head what Bird is a Singing Bird, or has aptitude thereto, tho' he never saw the Bird before, nor knew what Bird it were: This has often made me reflect how much the Modification of Voices depends upon the accuracy of the Ear, and how deaf Persons become Dumb: And since I have observed that many Children that have an acute Wit enough that are slow of Speech, that is long before they speak are much longer before they can pronounce those Letters that are sharps, as g. h. r. and never have an aptitude to learn to sing. Hence I judge that Songs that have many Sharps in them are the difficultest to sing well, and discover any Persons skill upon the trial of Musick most. This I suppose only, having no Skill in Musick my self, nor having ever discoursed any Person about it. As I remember we show'd some of these things to the Royal Society, and I drew some Cuts thereof, and gave the Doctor upon promise that he would put these and many other our joint Observations in Print, but I hear he is since dead. I have Anatomized most sorts of Creatures, and never found any Four-footed Creature with an Ear like a Bird, unless a Mole; and a Mole has an Ear much like them, with a very thin double Scull, and great Cavity like a Bird, and is very acute of hearing, the Scull by reason of the large Cavity is very slender and easily crush'd, so that a Mole is quickly kill'd with a bruise on the Scull like a Lark, and upon the bruise the Membranes of the Scull turn black; whence Segerus mistake Membranæ Cerebri in superficie exteriori omnino nigræ visæ. But when I have taken care not to bruise the Skull the Membranes were not black at all, both Segerus and Severinus I think had some perceptions of the different Structure of a Mole's Ear, but not any thing of its Analogy to a Bird's Ear; they speak of a Bone Egregie pumicosum: And Segerus says there's a Ductus ad ossis usque petrosi cavitatem protensus, plurimis fibrillis Membraneis annectabatur. But to return, this Mocking Bird having its Name from Mimicking, all other Birds in singing is a wonderful mettled Bird, bold and brisk, and yet seems to be of a very tender Constitution, neither singing in Winter, nor in the midst of Summer, and with much difficulty are any of them brought to live in England.